I was recently gifted a book entitled Love Does by Bob Goff who is the founder of Restore International, a non-profit fighting the injustices committed against children in Uganda and India. He is a lawyer and also serves as the Honorary Consul for the Republic of Uganda to the United States and is an adjunct professor at Pepperdine Law School.  I am in the midst of reading this engaging, whimsical, fun and unique book that makes faith simple and real and shares what fuels his life.  That is LOVE.

Here is a passage I found especially meaningful and enlightening. Bob starts each chapter with a little note which shows us where his ideas begin. Here is this chapter’s note.

I used to be afraid of failing at something that really mattered to me, but now I’m afraid of succeeding at things that don’t matter.

The thing I love about God is He intentionally guides people into failure. He made us be born as little kids who can’t walk or talk or even use the bathroom correctly. We have to be taught everything. All that learning takes time, and He made us so we are dependent on Him, our parents, and each other. The whole thing is designed so we try again and again until we finally get it right. And the whole time He is endlessly patient.

 I love those passages in Scripture where Jesus teaches the disciples something saying, “I want to teach you to think differently about life.” They walked with Him for years, and some of them didn’t learn everything they needed to know until after He’d gone back to heaven. Yet, even though they were slow to learn, they still referred to themselves as His beloveds. Failure is just part of the process, and it’s not just okay; it’s better than okay. God[PW1]  doesn’t want failure to shut us down. God didn’t make it a three-strikes-and-you’re-out sort of thing. It’s more about how God helps us dust ourselves off so that we can swing for the fences again. And all of this without keeping a meticulous record of our screw-ups.

This is what “Love Does.” It gets us through those rough patches, lifts us up to move on and try again and strengthens our hearts and minds to believe what is possible.  All of this is because of God’s unconditional love for us. Thanks be to God!

Patty

P.S. I would recommend this book for a uplifting read. There are lots of lessons to be learned from Love Does.